5 things I love about Stockholm

Public Transportation

Sweden might be a country with high prices, but in this sense, it is completely worth what you pay for it. Public transportation, including subways, buses and all sorts of trains, is simply amazing. In the first place, it is extremely clean (maybe this is a bit more difficult during weekend nights, you party people!). Also, plenty of buses are quite new, the older subways are still charming and perfectly maintained and the system is quite easy. No matter where you are, you will find a bus close to you or a subway station a short walk away. Prices for a monthly pass are wonderful if you consider the quality you receive. Have to be on time in Stockholm? No problem, you can practically always count on Stockholm’s public transport system.

Screens to let you know how much time is left until your bus comes.

On the bus!

Opening Hours for Stores

When I first got to Stockholm, I could not believe my eyes. I went to one of the malls and all the stores were closed. It was only 17:01. I was used to seeing all stores in my country open until 8 pm or even 10 pm! Luckily, when you go into the city center or bigger malls, the stores close at 8 pm. However, I kept complaining about this sometimes. I wanted them to be open even later. But not anymore. If you just want to shop for clothes, you can organize yourself and go earlier. But what about emergency food? Who has not been hanging out until 10 pm during a week night and all of the sudden remembered you have absolutely nothing in your fridge? Don’t worry, plenty of supermarkets in Stockholm open until 10 and if you are lucky even until 11 pm!

It has happened to me so many times, to be walking with a piece of trash in my hand for quite a long way. This might sound like no fun at all (and it is not, especially when you are trying to eat an orange) but it says a lot about the people. Stockholm, despite being a capital with almost 900.000 people, is fantastically clean. So if you take into account that finding a trashcan is difficult sometimes, you can sense the quality of the people that are here and their love for the environment and their city.

How it is like a cozy little village inside the shell of a vibrant capital city

Activities in Stockholm are extremely diverse. From nightclubs to classical music concerts, from museums to laser tag arenas, from business areas to kids sleighing during snowy days. The city has everything characteristic of a big city but without missing the charm and coziness of a small little town. A recent example could be seen during the last month where multiple electric stairs in the subway were out of order. During this time, after going up two flights of electrical stairs with their characteristic bigger steps and cursing about why you took the metro instead of the bus that morning, you get to the top. And there they are, offering adorable cups of water to make all that exercise worth it.

This is just a portion of the stairs at the subway!

The great prices for the things that matter

Yes, Stockholm can be considered a bit pricey. Alcohol, eating out and accommodation are just some examples of things you will find to be expensive when you get here (obviously depending where you come from). But when it comes to exercise, Stockholm just makes it easy for you. There are several gyms with fantastic offers and opening hours and the public swimming pools are also incredible with really cheap prices (further blogs about this). So once you are in this city, you have no excuse to be a couch potato!